All municipalities in Quebec that were in danger of losing their bilingual status under a provincial language law chose to retain their right to serve people in English and French.
The Office québécois de la langue française has confirmed that the 48 cities, municipalities or boroughs that had been notified that their status could be revoked have taken the necessary measures to remain bilingual.
Under Quebec’s new language law, municipalities where less than 50% of the citizens have English as their mother tongue could lose the right to communicate with residents in English.
However, Bill 96 allowed bilingual towns to avoid having their status revoked by passing a resolution affirming their desire to remain bilingual, within 120 days of receiving the notice from the province.
More than half of the province’s 89 bilingual municipalities received these notices in December, as their English-speaking population ranged from 7.2% to just under 50%.
The office of French Language Minister Jean-Francois Roberge says the law strikes a balance between promoting French and protecting minority rights, adding that mayors will have to justify their choices to voters.